Volute krater (Apulian red-figure ware)
330 BCE-320 BCE
Medium
earthenware
Measurements
88.7 × 49.6 × 41.7 cm
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Felton Bequest, 1969
© Public Domain
Gallery location
18th Century Decorative Arts - Great Hall Costume Corridor
Level 2, NGV International
About this work
This large vessel is an excellent example, in terms of both shape and decoration, of the ornate Apulian style prevalent at the end of the fourth century BCE. Great skill was needed to manufacture such elaborate handles that have applied masks on their volutes (scrolled ornaments) and modelled swans’heads at the base of them. In this case, the masks are of the nymph Io, identifiedby the horns of the heifer. The main scene on the krater depicts a scene from the daily life of the deceased in whose tomb this vessel would have been placed, painted as though it was carved on a marble plaque. On the reverse is a simple grave stele (upright slab or pillar) surrounded by four seated mourners with offerings.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
Apulia, Italy
Accession Number
D88-1969
Department
Antiquities
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of Digitisation Champion Ms Carol Grigor through Metal Manufactures Limited
Physical description
Large vase with ovoid body, thick neck, flaring rim, and two handles with swans' heads at the base and "volutes" on the rim, with masks of Io as applied decoration. On Side A a naiskos scene, surrounded by four mourners on two levels, within the naiskos a bearded man, armour and young boy bringing situla. On the neck of A, a woman's head rising from a flower, surrounded by flowers and vegetal scrolls an added white and yellow. On Side B, a stela flanked by four mourners on two levels; on the neck an elaborate palmette.